Scholarships and funding

Supporting your study

We offer many funding opportunities to support both undergraduate and postgraduate students, including a broad range of University of Essex scholarships, studentships within the School, and studentships from EnvEast.

Scholarships

Search our Scholarship Finder to see the funding you can apply for. Our range of scholarships and bursaries to support talented students ensure we remain accessible to all with the potential to succeed, regardless of financial circumstances.

PhD studentships

PhD studentships are offered by the School of Biological Sciences, EnvEast (NERC-funded Doctoral Training Partnership) and the EU (Horizon 2020). Details of our current opportunities are listed below.

What's the importance of research at universities?

Academic freedom, together with creative and critical thought, is at the core of research in universities! Postgraduate students are encouraged to follow exciting lines of enquiry and publish their research findings. Published work becomes the cornerstone of scientific endeavour, and can have major impacts on society. In the School of Biological Sciences, for example, research has advanced our fundamental understanding of: mechanisms of cancer, limits of life, stress-resistance in crops, processes behind climate change, and the structure of haemoglobin that has led to the development of blood substitutes.

Why should you do your research at Essex?

At the University of Essex, you can perform exciting research with excellent supervision that strikes the balance between guidance and encouraging independence. You belong to intellectually stimulating research groups, and, importantly, will find a friendly, supportive environment within departments and across the university. Essex provides outstanding financial support for training, field work, participating in conferences, and opportunities to interact with future employers.

Current PhD studentships

Exploring the Effects of Microbiota and Genome Regulation in the Intestinal Epithelium and Brain

There are more bacterial cells living in our gut then the number of human cells that make up our body. Many of these bacteria are ‘good bacteria’ by helping us in digesting food, warding off pathogenic bacteria and training our immune system. How these bacteria interact with their host’s cells, e.g., the stem cells in the intestinal epithelium and how they affect gene expression and genome functions are important questions. The Varga-Weisz lab has recently revealed novel mechanisms involving chromatin dynamics by which the microbiota crosstalk to the host’s genome (Fellows et al., Nature Communications 105, 2018, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02651-5, direct link: http://rdcu.be/EntB). The PhD project will build and extend on this work and will probe how the microbiota affect our genome function, in the intestinal epithelium and possibly other organs, such as the brain.

Additional questions and queries about the studentship can be addressed to Patrick Varga-Weisz.

Deep sea dispersal and connectivity across the North Atlantic

Corals are listed as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems by the United Nations General Assembly. Acanella arbuscula is an arborescent octocoral found across the North Atlantic from 200-2000m depth. This octocoral is, unusually, often found in soft sediment; habitat that is heavily impacted by bottom contact gear. Genetics is currently the most tractable method in the deep-sea to determine the processes underpinning persistence in deep-sea populations. Specifically, population genomics can be used to determine the appropriate size of conservation units for responsible management, as well as testing long-held deep-sea hypotheses about genetic connectivity e.g. the Depth Differentiation Hypothesis. This PhD will investigate population genomic connectivity and structure of A. arbuscula using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) isolated using RAD-seq next generation sequencing technology. These data, alongside environmental data such as temperature, oxygen and productivity, will be combined in seascape genomic analyses (something not yet undertaken in the deep sea) to answer long-standing questions about the drivers of connectivity across the North Atlantic.

Deadline: 30th March 2018.

How to apply: For questions about this PhD and submission of application documents (CV, cover letter, two references - copies of transcripts and certificates will be requested if candidates are interviewed) please email Dr Michelle Taylor.

Long-term survival of microbes in halite brine inclusions

The overall aim is to understand the survival of halophilic microbial communities inside the brine inclusions of halite, providing a model system for investigating the conditions that could have preserved traces of life in evaporites both on Earth (e.g. Messinian halite) and Mars.

The selected PhD student will be part of a team of 15, working on the European Training Network, SALTGIANT. They will receive excellent training and a very competitive salary.

Studentships within the Faculty of Science and Health

Details of our current opportunities are listed below.

Current Studentships

Data analysis for the 3D structure of the DNA – to start October 2018

It is now becoming possible to obtain information about the 3D organisation of the DNA using modern techniques that use a cross-linker to capture bits of DNA in close proximity. Recent developments have allowed us to push the boundaries of the resolutions of these maps to subkilobase and these types of experiments are currently being carried out in Dr Zabet’s lab as part of a Wellcome Trust funded project. The aim of the PhD project is to design and develop new statistical models to analyse the 3D structure of the DNA using new data generated by Hi-C experiments. Using these methods, we expect to unveil the functional role of the 3D structure of the DNA and its role in complex diseases, such as cancer.

Additional questions and queries about the studentship to be addressed to Dr Radu Zabet.

Risk to human health and welfare due to coral reef decline caused by climate change impacts

Healthy coral reefs confer many ecosystems services that are central to human health;
first and foremost perhaps being the provision of sources of protein (generally fish) to
some of the poorest people on Earth. There has not been an assessment of how many
people rely on coral reefs for food, protection, and livelihoods using modern data. With
access to better maps of urban populations (and future population predictions), better
understanding of how and where climate change will impact coral reefs, and improved
models of future climate change a new analysis of the current and future risk of climate
change to human health and food provision by coral reefs is now possible. The results of
proposed research will support effective national, regional, and even global decision making,
and potentially provide convincing data to policymakers to push for stronger
action on climate change.

Using the latest models of risk in actuarial science, through partnership with the Department of Mathematics and the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex this research will help understand the risk of coral loss being faced by some of the world’s people who are least capable of managing and adapting to this impact.

Deadline: 11 April 2018

How to apply: For questions about this PhD and submission of application documents (CV, cover letter, two references - copies of transcripts and certificates will be requested if candidates are interviewed) please email Dr Michelle Taylor.

Deep sea dispersal and connectivity across the North Atlantic

Corals are listed as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems by the United Nations General Assembly. Acanella arbuscula is an arborescent octocoral found across the North Atlantic from 200-2000m depth. This octocoral is, unusually, often found in soft sediment; habitat that is heavily impacted by bottom contact gear. Genetics is currently the most tractable method in the deep-sea to determine the processes underpinning persistence in deep-sea populations. Specifically, population genomics can be used to determine the appropriate size of conservation units for responsible management, as well as testing long-held deep-sea hypotheses about genetic connectivity e.g. the Depth Differentiation Hypothesis. This PhD will investigate population genomic connectivity and structure of A. arbuscula using single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) isolated using RAD-seq next generation sequencing technology. These data, alongside environmental data such as temperature, oxygen and productivity, will be combined in seascape genomic analyses (something not yet undertaken in the deep sea) to answer long-standing questions about the drivers of connectivity across the North Atlantic.

Deadline: 11th April 2018.

How to apply: For questions about this PhD and submission of application documents (CV, cover letter, two references - copies of transcripts and certificates will be requested if candidates are interviewed) please email Dr Michelle Taylor.

If you're one of our graduates, studied abroad here or have a spouse or partner studying here as a full-time international student paying overseas fees, we'll give you a loyalty discount of up to 33% on the tuition fee for your first year of postgraduate study at Essex.